India reaffirms energy independence after Trump’s Russian oil claim

India on Thursday said it is "broad-basing and diversifying" its sourcing of energy to meet market conditions, hours after US President Donald Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him that New Delhi will stop procuring Russian crude oil.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to Trump's remarks, said it has been New Delhi's consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario.

He said India's import policies are guided entirely by national interest, adding the country has been looking at expanding energy ties with the US as well.

"Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy," he said. "This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions," Jaiswal added.

India's continuing purchase of petroleum products from Russia notwithstanding Western sanctions has become a major issue that resulted in severe downturn in ties between New Delhi and Washington.

In Washington, Trump told reporters that "he (Modi) has assured me there will be no oil purchases from Russia." The US president said India may not be able to cut the procurement immediately but the process has started. "It (process) has started. He can't do it immediately. It's a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over soon," the US president said.

In his remarks, Jaiswal noted that India is holding talks with the Trump administration on boosting bilateral energy ties. "Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement. This has steadily progressed in the last decade," he said. "The current administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing," he added.

Explaining India's policy on energy procurement, Jaiswal said it is driven by national interest. "India is a significant importer of oil and gas. It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario," he said. "Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective," he said.

In his remarks, Trump suggested that the US wants India to stop procurement of Russian crude only to put financial pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin so that he ends the war in Ukraine. "All we want from President Putin is to stop this, stop killing Ukrainians and stop killing Russians because he's killing a lot of Russians. It is a war he should have won in one week and now it is going into fourth year," he said.

Washington has been maintaining that India is helping Putin to finance the war through its purchase of Russian crude oil. The relations between New Delhi and Washington have been reeling under severe stress after Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duties for India's purchase of Russian crude oil. India described the US action as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable."